The present invention relates to jewelry, and particularly ring re-sizing attachments that may be appended to the bands of rings to enable persons with smaller finger diameters to wear rings of larger ring size without removing material from the ring band.
Jewelry wearers may develop large knuckles due to aging, arthritis or weight gain. Or, jewelry wearers may change ring size due to weight loss. Or, rings that were fit to another family member may be too large for the current wearer. All of these situations may cause a ring owner to consult with a jeweler to change the size of a ring.
When a ring is made or adjusted to fit over an enlarged knuckle, it may then be too large for the digital portion of the ring finger and will tend to turn on the finger. This makes the ring uncomfortable, and can harm the setting.
When a ring is re-sized by removing metal material to reduce, or adding metal material to enlarge, the ring band circumference, there are limits to the amount that ring bands may be stretched or cut down without weakening the ring structure and integrity or introducing imperfections. It also is expensive to pay a jeweler to enlarge or reduce the size of a ring band.
Mechanisms to re-size a ring band are shown in the prior art. Some ring re-sizing mechanisms seat a spring wire into a groove formed in the ring band, or append a spring wire to the inside of the band. U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,010 (Ulbrich) creates an internal groove in the ring band and inserts a profile wire ring inside. U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,356 (Lodrini) similarly modifies the ring band to have a groove to receive an auxiliary band. See also U.S. Published patent application US2010/0083701 A1 (Huynh) showing a spring of an arc of 210-270 degrees secured to the inside circumferential surface of the bottom of a ring band.
Some ring re-sizing mechanisms comprise a specialized ring band that includes a combination of springs. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,764 (Roemer)
Some ring re-sizing mechanisms drill holes into the ring band to seat leaf springs or other spring elements. U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,447 (Lodrini) shows a leaf spring received in slots in the ring band, where the leaf spring urges a saddle-shaped insert away from the inner circumference of the ring band. German Utility Model DE20218002 (U10 shows a pressure pad with a spring 30 that is positioned on a ring band. U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,164 (Sills) appends an air bladder to the inner ring band, and adjusts the ring size by expanding or contracting the size of the air bladder by introducing air through a valve.
While various types of ring re-sizing mechanisms are known in the prior art, the primary mechanism used commercially today by jewelers is to weld beads of metal into the ring band of a size that is large enough to pass a wearer's knuckle. The metal beads create pressure points against a wearer's finger to hold the ring in place on the finger beyond the knuckle. However, those pressure points are not comfortable, and the welding of metal weakens or mars the metal of the ring band.
There is still a need for improving the way ring sizes are modified without harming the appearance or integrity of the ring band, and providing greater user comfort. Lower cost options are also sought. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages, as described herein.